2012 Côte de Nuits-Villages

Sylvie Esmonin wanted to talk about the crazy 2013 growing season when I arrived for my annual Saturday afternoon visit."We had the best July in ten years--really seven dry weeks in July and August," she told me."That saved the vintage, considering that ducks were swimming in our lower vineyards in April and our cave flooded for the first time since 1965."Esmonin predicted that there would be a wide range of 2013 wines, but that the vintage would be "almost at 2012 level in the better terroirs."The 2012s, added Esmonin, "are not powerhouses, but have great finesse and opulence, and are well-marked by their terroir."She harvested late, as is her usual practice, beginning on September 24, but was lucky enough to have brought in her flagship Clos Saint-Jacques parcel before the heavy rain on September 26.Like a few of her colleagues on the Cote de Nuits, Esmonin compared the 2012s to the 2002s, "but with a bit more density.Two cool vintages, but the 2010s are more intellectual than both of them."

Sylvie Esmonin's 2012s are gorgeous, most notably for the way they transmit the signatures of place. Yields are down around 33%, mostly because of a rainy spring that resulted in a high incidence of coulure (shatter). Esmonin reported very late malos. From barrel, the wines show different levels of completeness, from the Côtes de Nuits, which is quite harmonious, all the way to the Clos Saint-Jacques, a much rawer wine at this stage. Esmonin used 30% whole clusters on the Côtes de Nuits and Gevrey villages, and 50% on the Vieilles Vignes and Clos Saint-Jacques. The wines had been racked twice before I tasted them. Unfortunately, the Clos Saint-Jacques was too reduced to get a clear read.